Page 42 of Wasn't Supposed To Be Yours
“It’s like she knew that you were on the way or something. She was trying to dose off, but wouldn’t fully do it,” Promise said to me the second that I got Romy from her. I sat the bags down on the floor, sitting them right by the door.
My daughter was cooing as I held her, and I kissed her all over her little face.
I took my eyes off Romy, and I looked over at Promise, and seeing her, I swear it made all the sense in the world why I had been fuckin her crazy ass in the first place. It wasn’t even so much the body that had me going crazy; it was the face. Don’t get me wrong, the body was nicer than a motha fucka, but the face on her was one out of this world. Big, brown eyes that reminded me of the Bratz dolls that my little sister used to play with when she was younger. She also had these big lips, that were soft like pillows. A cute, beauty mark was on her top lip, and call me weird, but that was one of the things that really stood out to me when we first met.
Looking at Promise, you wouldn’t think that she was older than me. She was twenty- eight, but she looked to have been my age. Promise was well known in Miami from doing hair, and because of all the niggas that she would fuck around with. She had a history of fuckin around with any nigga that had a dollar. I wouldn’t say that she was using men for money because she had her own. That just happened to be her preference. I thought that I was doing something when I started fuckin around with her because she was cool in the beginning, but once she got pregnant, and Romy got here, this bitch has been giving me a run for my money, making me regret the day that I ever stuck my dick in her.
“Ima get her ready for bed, and stuff,” I let Promise know, and she nodded her head, letting me know that that was fine.
So that I wouldn’t be walking through her crib with my slides on, I left them by the door, keeping on my socks. Walking through the apartment, I was going to have to pass by her living room area, and once I got over there, I saw that she had a few of her home girls, and some of her cousins. They were all on the living room couch chilling. I saw a couple of hookahs on thetable, shot glasses, uno cards, and from the backwoods that were on the table, I knew that they were going to be smoking soon.
I turned my head to look at Promise, but I didn’t say anything. I would address it if she followed me to the back.
“Hey Rico! How you, and the rest of the team looking tomorrow? I got ya’ll on my ticket, and it need to hit. My birthday coming up next weekend, and I’m trying to win some money on ya’ll tomorrow,” that was Keke, and she was Promise’s cousin. They were the same age. I fucked with Keke for the most part. A lot of times, she played the middleman between me, and Promise. She talked a lot of shit, but she was cool.
“We looking good for tomorrow. Don’t ever bet against us. How ya’ll doing ladies?” I asked, just being respectful, speaking to the rest of the women that were here. They all spoke back, and that’s when I headed towards the back, where Romy’s room was. Promise followed behind me, and she closed the door behind us.
“Don’t even start tripping about the backwoods that you saw on the table. They know to smoke that shit outside on the balcony. I don’t even smoke in my own house, so you know that they not going to do it,” she said it, so that I wouldn’t have to.
I went over to the rocking chair that was in Romy’s room, and I sat her down in my lap, wanting to keep her up, and play with her a little bit before I got her ready for bed.
“I’m not tripping about the girl’s night that you having. The part I don’t understand is that you know you going to be drinking and smoking, so why wouldn’t you ask me if I could take Romy to my mama house? My mama not doing shit, and she be looking for any little reason to watch after her grandchild. That’s the only part I don’t understand with you. My people be willing to watch Romy, but you don’t let them,” I said to her. She stood by the door with her arms crossed, rolling her eyes at me, as she listened to what I was saying to her.
“You know why I don’t like her going over there. Your mama don’t like me, and because of that, I don’t care for her to watch my daughter! Don’t come over here trying to start nothing, Rico!” she fussed.
“I’m not coming over here starting shit! I’m simply telling you how I feel about the situation. It’s women out here that wished they had the kind of help that my family is willing to give you, but you hate my mama so much that you won’t take it,” I snapped at her, and when I did, Romy jumped a little bit in my arms, as if I had frightened her.
I picked her little body up, consoled her with kisses, and then I looked back over at Promise, who was still standing by the door.
“Enjoy your time with your daughter, Rico. I’m not doing this with you tonight. Good luck on your game tomorrow,” was all she said before she opened the door, walked out, and closed it behind her.
“Your mommy is crazy. I hope when you grow up that you take after me, and not her. She’s sick in the head,” I told her, as if she could understand anything that I was saying to her. She looked at me with confused eyes, not knowing what the hell I was talking about.
I talked with my baby for a little bit, and I eventually stood up with her, went over to her dresser, and pulled out a onesie for her. I laid it down at the changing area, and I took her out of the room, and across the hall, where her bathroom was. Her small tub that Promise had for her was still in the bigger tub, so I went ahead, and filled it up with some warm water for her, and once it was enough, I removed her clothes, where she started immediately fussing because she was cold.
“Alright. Alright, daddy baby. Hold on. Hold on,” I cooed to her, lowering her down into the warm water, and the second her body touched the water, she immediately stopped fussing.
I knew my baby loved to take baths, so instead of bathing her right away, I let her soak up the warm water, while I took a seat on the edge of the toilet seat, keeping the lid down.
“I can’t wait until you get old enough, so we can start doing fun stuff together. I gotta take you to Disney World. We going to ride all the rides together. I’m ready for your first birthday party too. Ima throw you something big. What kind of party you want? Baby shark? A princess party? Elmo? What you want, mommy?” I asked my daughter, who was looking me dead in my eyes as I talked to her. She was looking at me in a way like she was deep in thought, and she could fully understand my questions.
Looking at my little girl, I found myself getting emotional. I don’t know what the fuck came over me, but my eyes got misty, and the second I blinked, tears fell. I laughed it off, as if I was embarrassed that I was crying in front of her.
“Your daddy a G, baby. I’m not crying. I had something in my eye,” I lied to her, as if she gave a damn.
During her time of sitting in the tub, she kept letting out yawns, so that’s when I removed myself from the toilet seat, got down on my knees, and I proceeded to bathe her. The whole time that I was wiping her down, she had her eyes closed, as if she was in heaven. I finished up and prepared for the way she was going to start fussing like she always did whenever her baths were up. Her little butt started screaming as if someone was killing her the second that I lifted her, and I wrapped the towel around her.
I moved out of the bathroom, keeping her in my arms, and when I made it to her bedroom, I noticed that the door was cracked. I know for a fact that I’d closed the door behind me. The second I got in the room, I saw that there was a bottle on the dresser, and I knew from the bottle that Promise had come in and left it for me.
“Okay. Daddy got you. One minute, baby,” I talked to her, getting her to the changing station, where I dried her off, put some powder on her, a new diaper, and I swiftly put her onesie on. I got her in my arms, picked the bottle up, and went over to the rocking chair. She attacked the bottle the second that it touched her lips.
She finished it quickly and dozed off. I picked her little body up, putting her on my shoulder, patting her back, so that I could burp her. I got a loud burp from her, and in about five minutes, I stood up, going over to the mirror, where I turned to see if she was sleeping, and she was. I cut the night light on in the room and then turned the bedroom light off. I lowered her down in her crib, putting her on her back, and for about five minutes, I stood over her, taking in how beautiful she was. I didn’t want to leave, but I knew that I had to. I needed to give my body the rest that it deserved for tomorrow’s game, so as hard as it was, I eventually pulled myself away.
I slowly made my way out of the room, and I went back to the bathroom, so that I could clean up behind myself. Once everything was good, I left out, going out front, where the women were. They all wished me good luck on my game tomorrow, and I wasn’t surprised that Promise didn’t say anything to me. She’ll fall out with a nigga about the smallest shit, and I could give two fucks. Her ass could stay the fuck mad for all I cared.
I slipped my shoes on, and I got the fuck on.
As I was walking out of her apartment door, my phone started ringing. It was Toby hitting me. The nigga that pissed Tank off and had him ready to kill me. These days, I lowkey hated when this nigga called me because it was a constant reminder of the shit that I had gotten myself wrapped up in with him. A part of me wanted to just ignore the nigga, but I knewhow persistent he was, so he would just keep calling. I had a game tomorrow, so I knew exactly the reason he was hitting me.
